


Diamonds are a boy's best friend

by baeconandeggs, likelikeLove



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Kim Jongdae| Chen/Kim Minseok |Xiumin, Romance, Romantic Comedy, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24168868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/likelikeLove/pseuds/likelikeLove
Summary: Baekhyun’s friends all thought he was taking his obsession with jewels a little too far when he developed a serious crush on the infamous Seoul Jewel Thief. But when he finally comes face to face with the jewel thief in his boss’s secret vault, he finds out…this thief steals a lot more than just diamonds.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 206
Kudos: 659
Collections: BAE2020





	Diamonds are a boy's best friend

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** BAE1021  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** Thank you to my lovely prompter for this cute story idea 🤍 I had a lot of fun writing it. It made me want some jewels...and a hot jewel thief to steal them! I hope you enjoy it and that it’s at least somewhat vaguely what you had in mind. 
> 
> Also, big thank you to the BAE mods (especially Ghost mod) for answering all my stupid questions and being such eternal darlings. Thank you for your hard work, you are all truly good eggs.

Baekhyun stared at the photo of the enormous sapphire on the front page of the newspaper Minseok was reading. He leant closer, examining the jewel closely. It was an oval cut sapphire and the finest he’d ever seen, not to mention the largest. He gazed into its royal blue, multi-faceted depths. Jewels had always held a powerful attraction for him. The only thing that could distract him from the glistening jewel was the blurry CCTV footage photo, next to it, of its thief. He couldn’t make out much about the thief, who was dressed head to toe in black. For 6 months now he’d been making headlines, breaking into the highest-security homes, auction houses, and banks to steal 100’s of billions of won worth of precious jewels. So far no one had gotten a clear photo of his face, but it was obvious, even from the fuzzy photos, that he was tall and well-built.

“Are you even listening to me?” asked Minseok, waving a hand in front of Baekhyun’s face.

“What?” said Baekhyun, vaguely aware that Minseok had been talking to him.

“I’ll take that as a no,” said Minseok. He peered around the newspaper to see what Baekhyun was looking at. “Ah, sorry to interrupt, I can see you’re very busy eye-fucking that jewel thief again.”

“I was looking at the sapphire actually, it’s phenomenal,” said Baekhyun, pointing at the photo of the jewel. After a second, his eyes drifted sideways to the thief again.

“Yeah, you know you’re still looking at that thief, right?”

“I was not!” lied Baekhyun. “There’s no point looking at those terrible pictures, he’s got his face covered and the quality is awful.”

“Well you can tell he’s tall, everyone likes tall guys,” said Minseok, examining the grainy photo closely.

“Well that’s just hurtful,” said Jongdae, sinking down onto the lounge next to Minseok and dumping the tray with their coffees onto the low table in front of them.

“Why? I think you’re very tall!” backpedalled Minseok immediately.

“You’re lucky you’re cute when you lie,” said Jongdae, dropping a series of light kisses on Minseok’s ready lips.

Baekhyun looked away and grabbed his cup of coffee. Jongdae and Minseok had been dating for about 6 months now and they got more insufferably mushy with every passing day.

“Why were you talking about tall guys anyway?” asked Jongdae, once he’d released Minseok and picked up his coffee.

“Baekhyun’s beloved jewel thief has struck again,” exclaimed Minseok, handing Jongdae the newspaper.

Jongdae peered at the front page.

“Isn’t this that big sapphire, you were telling me about, that sold at auction for almost 3 billion won last month?” Jongdae asked.

“Uh-huh,” confirmed Baekhyun, “He’s got incredible taste,” he added trying and failing to keep the admiring note out of his voice.

“You wouldn't think someone who works for a jeweller would have such a hard-on for a jewel thief,” said Jongdae, dropping the newspaper on to Baekhyun’s lap.

“I don't have a hard-on for him! And it's because I'm interested in jewels that I..,” Baekhyun paused awkwardly searching for a suitable word, his gaze fell on the black and white photo once more, “…admire him.”

“Admire?” Jongdae snorted. “Is that code for having a crush as big as that freaking sapphire?” he asked, pointing at the newspaper.

“No, think about it, he must have the most amazing jewel collection!” exclaimed Baekhyun, almost breathlessly as he imagined a cavernous room filled with glistening diamonds.

Jongdae smirked. “Ah see Minseok we were wrong, it's not sexual after all. Baekhyun just wants to get his hands on this guy’s family jewels,” he said, sipping his coffee in an infuriatingly smug way.

Minseok laughed but spoke up quickly before Baekhyun could object. “Baekhyun you're so naive. He doesn’t have a jewel collection. He steals these things because he's paid to by rich collectors.”

“Then how come none of the pieces he's stolen have ever reappeared?” asked Baekhyun quickly.

“Why would they reappear? They’re in some black-market collection somewhere. They’re probably not even in the country anymore.”

Baekhyun frowned glancing almost involuntarily at the photo of the jewel thief again. “I think you're wrong.”

Minseok sighed and rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to argue his point further but Jongdae interrupted him. “Don't bother arguing with him about it. Just let him have his little fantasy.”

“Are you planning on letting me have my little fantasy anytime soon?” asked Minseok, raising an eyebrow.

Jongdae gave him a suggestive smile. “Which one? The pirate one? I told you if you get costumes I’m down to play,” he replied.

“Guys, I'm right here,” said Baekhyun weakly.

“You know I'm pretty sure there's a new costume store down the road from here, isn’t there Baekhyun? We saw it last week,” said Jongdae.

“Please don’t bring me into this.”

“You’re right,” said Minseok, showing Jongdae the costume store’s location on his phone.

“Let’s go!”

“Want us to see if they have a cat burglar costume?” Minseok asked Baekhyun teasingly, as he packed up his stuff.

Baekhyun paused, wondering exactly what a cat burglars’ costume would entail. Not that it mattered he didn’t have anyone to wear it for him anyway. He said, “No,” a little too slowly and Jongdae laughed at him.

Minseok tore off the front page of the newspaper and dropped it onto the armrest of Baekhyun’s chair. “For your um…private collection,” he said, biting his bottom lip to keep from laughing.

“Oh, very funny,” said Baekhyun, but as soon as they’d left, he folded the page carefully and slipped it into his backpack. He looked at the time on his watch, a fake Rolex he dreamed of replacing with a real one someday. He had to get going if he was going to make it to work on time. He drank his coffee quickly and left the cafe.

He had finished his Fine Arts degree at University the month before, and all his friends had expected him to get a job as a jewellery designer for some small firm. Instead, he had gotten himself employed as a salesman in one of Seoul’s finest luxury jewellers ‘House of Vivi’. One of his lecturers had even told him he was wasting his talents, but he had realised during his degree that it was precious gems that interested him most. If he worked for some small firm, he’d be working with semi-precious gems at best. Working at House of Vivi had seemed like a good way to achieve his goal, but he soon discovered he’d have to work hard and gain the owner’s trust before he was allowed anywhere near anything truly expensive. He quickly realised that the really high-class jewels weren’t even in the shop, they were sold and bought in private deals in a suite above the store. He hadn’t ever seen it, but he’d heard one of the other sales assistants describing a showroom so opulent it looked like a palace but that was nothing compared to the rumours he’d heard about the magnificent vault where the jewels were kept when they weren’t being shown to a client.

He walked into the jewellers 10 minutes later, infuriatingly Junmyeon his co-worker was already there. It didn’t seem to matter how early he arrived or how late he left at night, Junmyeon would always be there.

The door jangled as he walked in and Junmyeon leapt to attention then looked disappointed when he saw who it was. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, going back to filling up the display cases.

“Of course, it’s me,” said Baekhyun, in annoyance, “We’re not even open yet.”

“It might have been the boss,” said Junmyeon, primly.

Their boss, Oh Sehun never came into the shop this early. In fact, the earliest they usually saw him was lunchtime. Baekhyun made a loud scoffing noise which he hastily turned into a fake cough as to his horror Oh Sehun sauntered in from the employees-only door at the back of the store.

Junmyeon shot Baekhyun a triumphant look and stepped forward, while Baekhyun tried to look like he hadn’t only just arrived. He covertly slid his backpack off his shoulder and kicked it behind the counter.

“Good Morning, sir,” said Junmyeon in the bright, ringing tones that Baekhyun knew he reserved for their boss and very wealthy, elderly lady customers.

“Good Morning, Junmyeon,” said Sehun, “and... uh…?” His eyes wandered over to Baekhyun who was trying to hold in a yawn.

“Baekhyun,” said Baekhyun wearily.

“Taekhyun, yes,” said Sehun, “I’ll get it one of these days.”

Baekhyun hesitated and then decided not to correct him. He thought Junmyeon’s smile, if possible, grew even smugger.

Baekhyun was waiting now. Whenever Sehun came into the store it meant one thing, he was going to ask for someone to get him coffee. Every day Junmyeon beat him to it. Well, not today, he was listening, intently watching Sehun’s lips just waiting for the words to start to form and then he’d volunteer immediately, today he’d beat Junmyeon. Even his breathing had gone shallow and quiet as he waited, listening with all his being. But the next words spoken were by Junmyeon beside him.

“Would you like me to get you a coffee, sir?” volunteered Junmyeon as Baekhyun looked on in shock.

“Uh yes, that would be great, thank you, Junmyeon,” replied their boss. “I’ll be in my office,” he added, turning to leave.

Junmyeon took the credit card they used for all their boss’s purchases from the till and swanned off towards the door, as he opened it he turned and said, “Would you like me to get you anything?....Taekhyun?”

He enjoyed Baekhyun’s wordless fury for a second before letting the door swing close and going out into the street.

Baekhyun huffed, now he was stuck setting up the rest of the display cases while Junmyeon got the coffee and the glory as per usual.

That afternoon Junmyeon was asked to help Sehun fetch items from the vault. Baekhyun almost died of jealousy. He would kill for the chance to see that vault; well he would certainly kill Junmyeon but that wasn’t saying much.

When Junmyeon finally came back Baekhyun was already packing away the jewellery from the display cases in preparation for closing. Baekhyun thought that, whenever he returned from the vault, Junmyeon’s eyes seemed to glitter more as if the spectacular sights he’d just seen were still mirrored in them.

He never brought up Junmyeon’s vault visits out of jealousy but today he couldn’t stop himself. The vague, tantalizing rumours he’d heard about the vault were no longer enough, he wanted to hear about it from someone who’d seen it with their own eyes.

“Junmyeon,” he said tentatively. “What’s the vault like?” he added in a hasty burst.

Junmyeon gave him an appraising look. “How long have you been dying to ask me that?”

Baekhyun huffed. “Nevermind, I don’t really want to know. I just thought you wanted to talk about it.”

Junmyeon laughed. “Alright, I’ll tell you, since you’re clearly desperate to know.”

Baekhyun ignored him and started counting the till.

“It’s underground and massive,” breathed Junmyeon, “with every wall lined with glass cabinets displaying what has to be billions of dollars of the finest jewels. Every stone possible and colours I’ve never even seen before.”

Baekhyun lost count of the money while listening, started again then gave up completely, hanging on Junmyeon’s every word.

“The floors and the ceiling are mirrored so the light from each piece shines and sparkles around you. It’s like being inside a huge, twinkling diamond.”

Baekhyun’s imagination went wild, he could see it all in his mind, the cold, glittering light of jewels all around him. It was the same place he imagined when he thought of the jewel thief’s private collection. It was his version of heaven.

“And it’s guarded…by dragons,” continued Junmyeon.

Baekhyun gasped then blinked. “Wait…what?”

Junmyeon laughed. “You’re so gullible.”

Baekhyun was shaken, he felt like the magnificent vision of the diamond filled vault had been ripped away from him completely.

“So, you made all of that up?” he cried, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” replied Junmyeon, maddeningly smug.

“Yes! I would, that’s why I asked!” exclaimed Baekhyun, then regretted it, he was clearly giving Junmyeon exactly what he wanted. He shut the drawer of the cash register with a clatter and stormed off into the back room. He grabbed his bag then walked out of the store without another word. Junmyeon could finish packing up all by himself for all he cared.

He was angry the whole way home. He hated his job and most of all he hated Junmyeon, who got to see the mythical vault, even though he could never appreciate its glory like Baekhyun could…or would, if he ever actually got to see it.

He let himself into the apartment he shared with Minseok, slouched through the living room discarding backpack and jacket haphazardly as he went and made his way into the kitchen.

The kitchen was empty but Baekhyun could hear the shower running in the bathroom, so he figured that’s where Minseok and Jongdae probably were. He opened the fridge and resigned himself to the depressing task of trying to find something for dinner. It had been about a month since they had gone grocery shopping and the food situation was getting pretty dire. He pulled out everything left in the fridge that looked edible.

By the time the shower stopped running his “creation” was coming along nicely. He didn’t think it tasted that bad, a little bland maybe. He went back to the fridge to see what he could add and put in some old BBQ sauce and after a moment’s consideration some orange juice.

Minseok walked into the kitchen.

Baekhyun looked up from the stove and was surprised to see him alone. Since Minseok and Jongdae had started dating it was very rare to see one without the other.

“Where’s Jongdae?”

“At his place, he’s not very impressed with me,” Minseok admitted.

“Why?” asked Baekhyun, but he had a feeling he was going to regret asking.

Minseok sighed deeply. “Long story short, I made him walk the plank and well…he fell off the bed and hurt his knee and now he’s all annoyed with me.”

“You could have made that story even shorter by just telling me he hurt his leg!” pointed out Baekhyun.

“I was giving you context.”

“From now on just assume I never want context,” said Baekhyun, turning back to the stove.

“What is that anyway? asked Minseok, peering over Baekhyun’s shoulder as he stirred the bubbling pot.

“Everything that was left in the fridge.”

Minseok stared darkly at the concoction. “So, it’s come to this?”

“Do you want some?”

“Sure!”

“Jongdae might forgive you faster if you get sick,” added Baekhyun, grabbing a couple of bowls out of the dishwasher. “Forks or Chopsticks?” he asked.

Minseok ladled up a bit of the dinner and let it drop back into the pot. “I think it’s going to have to be spoons.”

The kitchen table had been broken since last month. It had been like that when Baekhyun came home from work one day, Minseok hadn’t explained and Baekhyun had certainly not asked. So, they settled themselves on the couch each with a bowl in hand and Baekhyun was the first to take a tentative sip. Minseok watched his reaction somewhat warily but when Baekhyun didn’t immediately drop dead he took a sip of his own.

They ate in silence for a few minutes and Baekhyun was just thinking it wasn’t too bad when suddenly the aftertaste kicked in.

Minseok obviously got a hit of it too because he screwed up his nose and said, “What’s that strange taste? It’s sort of bitter and…” he paused as if trying to put his finger on what it could be.

“Fizzy?” hazarded Baekhyun who was also trying to figure it out.

“Yes!”

“I think it’s the orange juice, it might have been off.”

Minseok put down his spoon.

“Want to go grocery shopping tomorrow night?”

“Yes!”

“Unless Jongdae is ready to make up, then I’ll be otherwise detained,” he said with unnecessary emphasis.

“Let me just say, ew!”

“I’ll have you know makeup sex is the best thing about having a lover,” said Minseok, with the air of someone imparting great wisdom.

“Please stop saying lover, it’s making me uncomfortable.”

“I only said it once,” protested Minseok.

“Once was enough!”

“Only because you don’t have one!”

“I’m not taking advice from someone who’s “lover” is Jongdae,” Baekhyun said, sketching expansive air quotes with his fingers. “Besides, I’m concentrating on my career at the moment, I don’t have time for dating.”

“Career? What career? You mean getting coffee for some big wig jeweller?”

“Hey, I don’t get him coffee,” burst out Baekhyun, “...but I really want too,” he admitted miserably.

Minseok laughed then quickly stopped and put on a commiserating expression. “Don’t worry it will get better, you couldn’t expect to be running the place immediately. But I don’t think you should put your love life on hold for some job and besides you should be so lucky to have a boyfriend as amazing as Jongdae!”

“Hey, you’re the one that pushed him out of bed.”

“I didn’t push him! He fell.”

“You made him walk the plank!”

“Well, he deserved it.”

“What?”

“Oh, there was a whole big pirate backstory to it,” explained Minseok, “You see I was the captain and he was the first mate and he—"

“No! don’t tell me! I don’t want to know,” cried Baekhyun, putting his fingers in his ears and wriggling in horror. His half-full bowl slid off his lap and overturned right on to the couch. They both watched the brown liquid seeping into the fabric of the couch cushion in a way that looked alarmingly permanent.

Baekhyun was secretly glad because it meant he didn’t need to keep eating it and Minseok was suitably distracted from telling stories of his fantasy escapades.

“Maybe we can just turn the cushion over?” suggested Minseok.

“Nah the other side has a Jajangmyeon stain,” replied Baekhyun. He stared at the darkening brown mark. “We really need new furniture,” he observed.

***

When Baekhyun got to work the next day, he remembered how annoyed he was with Junmyeon. He decided he wasn’t even going to talk to him, he was going to ignore him completely. He gave him the silent treatment most of the day, but annoyingly Junmyeon seemed to prefer it that way.

Around ½ an hour before closing, Junmyeon went out the back to get more receipt rolls for the cash register.

Baekhyun noticed a necklace was very obviously wonky on its blue velvet bust and so ducked down to reach inside the low glass case to straighten it. He heard the unmistakable sound of their boss’s expensive Italian leather shoes on the store’s marble floor.

“I need you to get me a coffee,” said Sehun without preamble.

Junmyeon was still out the back. Baekhyun immediately jumped up and took his chance.

“Sure, right away,” he said eagerly.

Sehun looked surprised to see him, he looked around uncertainly.

“No, that’s alright uh---”

“Baekhyun,” supplied Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun,” repeated Sehun, frowning. “Junmyeon knows what I like. Where is he?”

“I’m here, sir,” said Junmyeon quickly, coming out of the back room with the receipt rolls.

“Ah there you are, could you get me a coffee please?”

“Sure, right away,” said Junmyeon, he thrust the receipt rolls into Baekhyun’s hands and got the credit card out of the till.

Baekhyun began very noisily changing the cash register’s receipt roll because he thought if he looked at either of them, he might scream out of disappointment. He didn’t look up again until he’d heard both doors close.

Baekhyun stopped changing the rolls and stared out the shop window, he didn’t know what he was doing here. How long would he be stuck in this boring job clamouring desperately every day to get his boss coffee? And more importantly, when would he get his chance to see the vault? It all seemed so pointless.

A motorbike courier pulled up to the curb opposite the store. Baekhyun watched him disinterestedly at first until he pulled off his helmet. He was younger than Baekhyun had expected with a handsome profile and dark brown hair, long at the top and shaved short at the sides in an attractive undercut. He shook out his slightly sweaty hair and swept it back from his face in an easy movement Baekhyun found disarmingly sexy. Baekhyun watched him slide on a black baseball cap, which he pulled down low over his eyes. He stood up, swinging off the bike easily with his long legs. He was tall and lean but still solid, his arm muscles swelled the sleeves of his black polo shirt, in a way Baekhyun thoroughly appreciated.

Baekhyun realised with a start that he’d been staring, eyes fixed and mouth open. He looked around quickly to make sure no one saw, but thankfully Junmyeon wasn’t back yet and there were no customers in the store. Maybe Minseok was right? If he was getting this hot and bothered over a delivery guy’s sweaty hair and ripped arms maybe he really did need a boyfriend? He hated when Minseok was right.

The store’s front door jingled as it opened and in walked the very courier he’d been drooling over.

Baekhyun tried and failed to look busy.

“Hi, I’ve got a package for a….,” the courier said, glancing down at the package’s label, “Oh Sehun.” His voice was deep and pleasant.

“You can give it to me. I'm allowed to sign for his packages,” Baekhyun said, holding out his hands and taking the padded envelope. “That's basically all I'm allowed to do,” he grumbled under his breath.

“Bitter little thing, aren't you?” said the courier with an amused laugh in his voice.

“Excuse me?! I'm not bitter!” exclaimed Baekhyun. “It's just that I'm perfectly capable of ordering coffee!”

The guy looked startled. “I never said you weren’t,” he said.

“And I know lots of good cafes around here too!”

“Ok,” replied the guy uncertainly. He squinted. “Are you…asking me out?”

“What? No!” burst out Baekhyun. “I’m just saying I’m just as capable of getting my boss’s coffee as the other employees.” Now that his brain had caught up with his mouth, he almost regretted saying no. This guy was awfully cute after all. Now that Baekhyun could see him close up, even the dark shadow of the cap’s brim couldn’t hide his good looks. His eyes were unusually large and expressive, and his jaw was as sharp as a male model’s. He even smelled good, which in Baekhyun’s experience was not typical of a courier.

“Oh,” said the guy vaguely, he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave. He looked down at the glass jewellery case in front of him. “You know I thought there’d be more impressive stuff here, this place has a really good reputation,” he said eying the jewellery dismissively.

“All the really good stuff is in the vault,” replied Baekhyun knowledgeably.

“Really?” he asked looking up suddenly, “Is this vault on-site?”

“Yeah, it’s right under the store,” explained Baekhyun.

The guy tilted his head interestedly. “How big is it?”

“Quite big,” hazarded Baekhyun slowly.

The guy smiled suddenly, the lopsided grin showing under the pulled down brim of his hat. “You’ve never seen it, have you?”

“Of course not!” burst out Baekhyun. “He won’t even let me buy his coffee and you think he’s going to let me into a vault with millions of dollars’ worth of jewellery!”

To his annoyance the courier didn’t even seem shocked by his outburst, his smile didn’t falter for a second if anything he looked even more amused.

“Give me that!” Baekhyun ordered irritably, grabbing the electronic signature tablet from the courier. He signed his name and pushed it back into the guy’s hands.

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll come by one day when you’re on a break and you can show me how good you are at ordering coffee,” he said playfully, that mischievous grin still firmly in place.

“I don’t even get breaks!” exclaimed Baekhyun.

The courier laughed, clipped the tablet onto his belt and left the store with a wave.

Baekhyun sank down onto the stool behind the register thinking that this was exactly why he didn’t have a boyfriend. A cute guy walks into the store and he just had to go and yell at him, didn’t he?

“Junmyeon,” Sehun called as he walked into the shop.

“He’s not here,” replied Baekhyun bitterly.

“Oh,” said Sehun, as always, he seemed surprised to see Baekhyun.

“He hasn’t come back yet from getting your coffee,” explained Baekhyun.

“Damn,” said Sehun, he ran a hand irritably through his perfectly styled hair. “I’m meeting a client offsite soon and I need assistance packing up some items from the vault.”

Baekhyun thought his heart had stopped then realised it was only that he’d stopped breathing for a few seconds. “I’ll do it,” he gasped out. “I can help.” It was all he could do to stop himself from jumping up and down with one hand in the air yelling, “pick me, pick me”.

Sehun looked at the door as if expecting Junmyeon to show up just in the nick of time but when he didn’t, he gave Baekhyun an appraising look and said, “Yes, I suppose you’ll do.”

The lukewarm sentiment was like music to Baekhyun’s ears.

“Come with me,” said Sehun commandingly and strode off.

Baekhyun quickly ran around to the front door to lock it and make sure no customers could come in while the shop was unattended. He took particular pleasure in the thought that he was also locking Junmyeon out.

Sehun pushed open the door to the offices behind the store. Even though the door was marked “employees only” Baekhyun had never been back there before. He and Junmyeon only had access to the store’s own back room and tiny staff bathroom.

Baekhyun followed Sehun at a brisk jog, staring about in wonder at the marbled walls and ornate gold fittings, the whole place reminded him of the lobby of an upmarket hotel. They approached a burnished gold elevator door. Sehun hit the down button and the lift opened soundlessly. They stepped inside. With every second of the lift’s descent Baekhyun felt his heart quicken, he did his best to keep his breathing quiet in the silent elevator. He was going to see the vault, _actually_ see the vault and all the wonders it contained. He could barely hold in his excitement.

The doors opened and they were in another lobby though this one was considerably less opulent. The walls were plaster not marble and the beige paint was chipped in places. This was obviously not somewhere a client would ever see. Baekhyun followed Sehun down a dimly lit corridor. At the end of the corridor was a large metal door, it was stainless steel not gold like the elevator and a few handprints showed it was not cleaned nearly as often either. Baekhyun looked around hopefully but aside from the door, the corridor was empty. He knew Junmyeon had been lying about the dragons, but it was still a bit disappointing. Even a guard would have been better than just an empty corridor.

Sehun approached a small, black screen to the left of the door, which was so non-descript that Baekhyun hadn’t even noticed it. He stood directly in front of it and a green light flashed across its surface.

Next Sehun placed the index finger of each hand on the screen and saw the green light flash again. The door made a faint hissing noise as if something had been released and Sehun turned the handle.

Baekhyun held his breath excitedly, anxious for the long-awaited moment when his eyes would first behold the treasures within the vault.

The room they entered was nothing like Baekhyun had imagined or like Junmyeon had described it. There were no glistening glass display cabinets, no mirrored ceilings and not a single visible jewel.

He felt his heart sink, as he stared around miserably.

It was a plain metal room, lined around the sides with large, grey cupboards each with many long, thin pull-out drawers. A small, metal table sat in the middle with a black leather briefcase resting on top.

The room reminded Baekhyun strongly of a commercial refrigerator. They had had one in the restaurant he had worked part-time in as a waiter while at university. It was even much colder in the safe than it had been in the hallway.

He tried to contain his disappointment, but he was pretty sure it showed on his face. He had waited for this for so long. He felt a strong urge to sit down on the cold, metal floor and cry.

Sehun thankfully did not appear to notice. He went over to a set of drawers and removed a large ledger book bound in worn green leather.

“Alright, now I’m going to call out the identification numbers and you’re going to get them out of the drawers and hand them to me,” explained Sehun. He snapped open the briefcase, it was lined with black velvet and was easily the most luxurious item Baekhyun had seen so far in the vault.

“B14,” said Sehun, not waiting for Baekhyun to reply. Baekhyun stepped further into the room. He noticed for the first time that each of the drawers was labelled with a combination of letters and numbers. He quickly scanned down the drawers until he found B14 and slid out the drawer. Inside were neatly lined up leather jewellery cases of various sizes, each had a label stuck to the bottom of the drawer in front of it.

“B14-D”

Baekhyun picked up the corresponding box and handed it to Sehun. Sehun opened it, glanced inside and Baekhyun caught the brief glimmer of diamonds before Sehun snapped the lid shut again and packed the case neatly into the open briefcase.

Sehun examined the ledger again as Baekhyun closed the drawer.

“D11”

They started the whole process again. By the 5th case, Baekhyun was feeling a little less nervous. He was finding the cases quickly and he could see Sehun was pleased.

As Sehun checked and packed the 5th case, Baekhyun asked curiously, “What happens if the power goes out? Does the door just unlock?” He was thinking of how often his electricity went out in the summertime when everyone was running their air-conditioners 24/7.

“Of course not, the door stays locked and there are manual overrides in case it needs to be opened,” replied Sehun, offhandedly.

“Manual overrides?”

“A key,” said Sehun, rolling his eyes.

Baekhyun’s eyes lit up. “Is it a really big, silver key all covered in intricate patterns and you keep it on a chain around your neck at all times to feel the security of the cool metal against your skin?”

Sehun stared at him. “No,” he said flatly, “it’s just a normal key. I keep mine in a wall safe, the Security company has the other one.”

“Oh,” said Baekhyun, deflating slightly. There was nothing about this vault that hadn’t deeply disappointed him.

Sehun consulted the ledger. “J13,” he said abruptly.

Baekhyun scrambled to the correct drawer.

“J13-J”

It was a red leather case this time and quite large. Baekhyun thought it was probably a necklace. He handed the case to Sehun.

Sehun appeared to be having some difficulty arranging the cases in the briefcase now. He pulled some of the others out and started moving them around. Baekhyun thought it looked like he was playing an extremely expensive game of Tetris.

Baekhyun looked back at the open drawer in front of him. He was getting curious now. There were hundreds of drawers and in each at least 20 cases. He ached to open one and look inside. He glanced around quickly, Sehun was still absorbed trying to make the cases fit neatly in the briefcase.

Baekhyun’s fingers inched closer to the small, square ring box next to the empty space J13-J had left. He just wanted to see what was inside. Carefully he prised open the lid and held in a gasp. Inside the box was a large diamond ring. The centre diamond was completely flawless, the long oval cut only accentuated the jewel’s astounding clarity. Even in the dim light, the diamond glinted alluringly, it practically glowed. It was the most beautiful ring he had ever seen, and he had seen it before. There was a photo of it in a textbook he’d studied at university. He was 100% sure this was it. The Marquise Diamond it had been called, he remembered staring at that photo for hours.

The ring called to him; he was enthralled by it. He couldn’t resist touching it, not when he was so close. His fingers grazed the cool, silky smooth platinum of the ring’s band and before he could stop himself he’d removed it from its silk-lined case and slipped it on. He had slender, fine-boned hands and the ring fit perfectly on his left ring finger. He held it up, watching it dance in the light like shards of glass. He was utterly lost in its glistening depths.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Baekhyun froze for a second then turned to see Sehun’s face white with anger staring at the empty ring box.

“Uh-I-I’m sorry,” he gasped out and frantically tried to remove the ring from his finger. But though it had slipped on so easily, it was proving much harder to remove. He struggled, twisting the ring desperately under Sehun’s increasingly furious stare.

“I just need some soap or something, and it’ll come right off,” he whispered and started towards the vault door with the intention of going to the staff bathrooms on the ground floor.

“You must be crazy if you think for 1 second I’m letting you leave this vault with that ring!”

“N-no, of course not,” replied Baekhyun, realising how silly he had been to even suggest it.

He redoubled his efforts to remove it, twisting the ring painfully, but he only succeeded in making his finger feel hot and swollen.

Sehun shook back his left sleeve and glanced at the diamond-encrusted watch adorning his wrist.

“My car will have arrived by now. I need to leave for this meeting. You have 3 seconds to get that ring off your finger and get out of my sight.”

Baekhyun felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes. He tugged futilely at the ring.

Sehun sighed. “Well then you give me no choice, I’m going to have to lock you in.”

“What?!”

“I can’t let you leave with that ring and I need to go now, or I’ll be late for my meeting.”

“You c-can’t leave me in here!” stammered Baekhyun, he remembered the hissing noise the door had made when it opened. “Isn’t this vault airtight?!”

“I’m sure there’s enough air for one person, for one night,” replied Sehun unconcernedly.

“How sure are you?! What are you even basing that off?!”

“I’ll let you out in the morning and that ring better be off your finger by then,” said Sehun, ignoring his protests. He snapped the briefcase closed and strode to the vault’s entrance.

Baekhyun watched in disbelief, he couldn’t believe he was seriously going to leave him locked in here, alone, all night.

All of a sudden, Sehun stopped one hand on the door and turned around to face him. Baekhyun felt a wave of relief wash over him. Sehun had clearly been joking or just trying to scare him there was no way he was actually going to lock him in the vault.

“Don’t touch anything else,” warned Sehun, and he slammed the door closed behind him.

“Wait!” yelled Baekhyun, running to the door. He pressed his hands against the cold metal feeling around frantically but there was no handle on the inside. He was locked in.

He turned around slowly looking at the silent, cold interior of the vault, and shivered. This was definitely the worst mess he’d ever gotten himself into, he had at least 12 hours ahead of him locked in a cold, airless vault waiting for morning to come when he would be let out and presumably then be fired immediately. After 5 minutes of miserable contemplation, he resigned himself to spending the night and sat down on the floor, his back against the legs of the table. He stopped trying to remove the ring and instead gazed at it. He honestly felt like he could look at it all night. He had no desire to go through the other jewellery cases, he felt sure that he had the most beautiful jewel of all right there on his left hand. Several hours passed by uneventfully and he was just starting to doze off in his uncomfortable position when all of a sudden, the lights went out.

Baekhyun sat very still, unsure of what to do. He thought that maybe the lights were triggered by a motion sensor, so very slowly he stood up. But the lights didn’t come back on. The darkness was absolute now, he couldn’t see even the glittering diamond. He decided it must be a power outage. Pity the door wasn’t going to unlock. He wondered about whether there actually was some sort of air ventilation system that Sehun hadn’t told him about, and whether it had now been cut off by the power outage.

Then he heard a noise. The hair on his arms stood on end as his skin seemed to crawl. What if it wasn’t a power outage? He held his breath as he heard that unmistakable hissing of the door releasing and suddenly a bright beam of light poured into the vault. Behind the flashlight was the dark shape of a man. Baekhyun was about to yell out, but he stifled the cry when he recognised the grey and black uniform of the Security company the store used. The relief was short-lived however, the man stepped closer and it occurred to Baekhyun that Security guards don’t usually wear black woollen balaclavas.

“Well this is a first,” said the Seoul Jewel thief. “You know these things are usually empty when I break in.”

Baekhyun had frozen completely. The only thought going through his head was that the Seoul Jewel thief was even taller than he’d looked in the newspaper photos. He couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t make him sound like a total fanboy.

“Who are you?” asked the thief.

“I could ask you the same thing,” said Baekhyun vaguely, stalling for time. He backed up a little, but the table was behind him and he couldn’t move any further away.

“Just a tip for future reference, anyone wearing one of these,” the thief said pointing at the balaclava, “is unlikely to answer that question.”

“You don’t need to,” replied Baekhyun. “I know who you are, you’re the Seoul Jewel thief.”

“Good, then you know why I’m here, don’t try to stop me and you won’t get hurt. I’m a jewel thief, not a jeweller murderer and I’d like it to stay that way.”

“So would I,” agreed Baekhyun.

“Good, then keep out of my way. This shouldn’t take long,” replied the thief, glancing around at the cupboards.

“Are you just browsing or looking for something, in particular, today?” asked Baekhyun automatically.

The thief looked surprised, at least his eyes seemed to widen a little, but he didn’t reply.

“There’s a ledger,” pointed out Baekhyun quickly. “If you’re looking for something specific.”

The thief picked up the book in disgust, he examined the pages then looked at the labels on the drawers.

“I've never seen such an organised vault before,” he said.

“I know,” said Baekhyun, “It's disgusting, isn't it?”

“Completely,” agreed the thief. “What kind of monster puts all these amazing jewels in gunmetal grey cabinets?”

“I know, it's criminal,” replied Baekhyun without thinking.

It was hard to tell with a balaclava and all, but he thought the thief had raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, I mean…not like you, not the sexy kind of criminal,” he stammered and quickly looked down. He was sure he could feel the thief’s gaze on him.

He didn’t look up until he heard the rustle of pages being turned. The thief was flicking leisurely through the ledger.

While the thief was distracted, he took the opportunity to do some serious staring. He’d been correct in his assumption, gleaned from hours gazing at blurry CCTV footage, that the thief was very nicely built while still being lean. If he had a type, the thief was certainly it.

He was pretty sure that uniform, a grey, short-sleeved shirt with constabular-style lapels and epaulettes, was actually the uniform of the store’s security team. Though none of the guards he’d seen had looked anywhere near this good in it. He suspected someone with a body like that would look good in anything, but still, it wasn’t the outfit he’d been expecting a thief to wear.

“Is that the usual outfit you wear while doing this?” asked Baekhyun, unable to stop himself.

“No, it depends on the job,” he said without looking up from the ledger.

“So, um…do you ever wear…like a black, spandex jumpsuit kind of thing?” Baekhyun asked haltingly. He bit his lip.

The thief looked up and their eyes met. Through the eyeholes, he could see that the thief had surprisingly soft eyes, large and very prettily shaped.

“Of course,” said the thief, “but not when I’m working.” He smiled confidently at Baekhyun’s surprise, then glanced back at the ledger once more.

After a minute he put the book down on the table then walked over and opened a drawer.

“It’s not here,” exclaimed the thief, he sounded both surprised and disappointed.

Baekhyun quickly looked at the drawer the thief had opened, it was J13.

“H-He took some pieces with him, to go see a client,” he said hurriedly, stumbling over his words.

“The case is still here and it’s open,” said the thief, he turned suddenly to look at Baekhyun.

“Oh...well I don’t know where it is,” replied Baekhyun. He slipped his hands behind his back and backed himself up against a cupboard on the opposite wall.

“I think you do,” replied the thief. “Show me your hand.”

Baekhyun swallowed, the noise was embarrassingly loud in the small space. He held out his right hand nervously.

“The other hand,” ordered the thief.

Baekhyun hesitated then slowly with his eyes pressed shut he held out his left hand.

“I can’t believe you made me look in that ridiculous book and you’ve been wearing it the whole time!” exclaimed the thief.

Baekhyun opened his eyes. “I didn’t know that you were looking for it,” he protested.

“Take it off now.”

“Well, you see I would. But it’s stuck, That’s why I’m in here actually. I was helping Se--,” he paused, “Mr Oh pack up some pieces and I tried this one on and now it’s stuck.”

“Oh, I bet he liked that,” replied the thief, an amused note had crept into his voice now.

“Yeah, not so much,” muttered Baekhyun.

“You need something oily, like butter to get it off.”

“Have you got any butter?” asked Baekhyun hopefully.

“Yes, yes, I do...I always carry a stick of butter when I _rob_ people.”

“Great! Can I have it?” asked Baekhyun, holding out his hand.

The thief stared at him incredulously. “No! I don’t have any butter. I was being sarcastic,” he exclaimed.

“Well, you might want to work on that because I couldn’t tell. Maybe use a sassier tone,” suggested Baekhyun.

“Hold still I have an idea,” replied the thief. He removed the small backpack he was wearing and rummaged around in it. After a minute, he stopped, looked up and pointed at one of the cabinets behind Baekhyun.

“What’s that over there?” asked the thief sharply.

Baekhyun turned around, but there was nothing there. “What? I don’t see—"

“One way or another that ring is coming with me,” said a voice close behind him.

***

Very slowly consciousness returned to Baekhyun. He opened his sore eyes. He felt heavy and confused like he did when he napped for too long or had been woken up unexpectedly. He took a long time to process the images he was seeing. He was lying on a purple, velvet chaise lounge with ornate, gold embellishments in the jewel vault of his fantasies. Instead of mirrors on the ceiling, there were large round skylights. The skylights let in pools of cool moonlight which were gently illuminating the dozens of magnificent jewel displays. From where he lay, he caught glimpses of a dazzling array of colours. He was dreaming, it was all a lovely dream. The reality of what the vault had actually looked like still stung his heart. Still, it was an unusually vivid dream. He couldn’t remember having a dream before where he was in pain or felt this disorientated. He sat up a little and his vision whirled violently for a second. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something black, with effort he focused on it.

The thief was sitting on the floor watching him.

“Good, you’re awake. I thought I might have held the chloroform over your face for too long. I’ve never done it before.”

Baekhyun groaned. “I can’t believe I fell for the old “what’s that over there?” trick,” he muttered to himself.

“Yeah, neither can I. You’re alarmingly gullible. You might want to work on that,” said the thief using his own words against him.

Baekhyun felt considerably better now he was sitting up. “You!” he exclaimed, glaring at the thief. “You kidnapped me!”

“No,” replied the thief firmly. “I _stole_ that,” he added, pointing at the ring, “unfortunately you just happened to be attached to it…but not for long.” He stood up and produced a sharp-looking knife, twirling it threateningly between his fingers. “Give me the ring now or I’ll _cut it_ off your hand.”

Baekhyun gasped. “What an unnecessarily mean thing to say,” he exclaimed.

The thief blinked, he opened his mouth to reply then hesitated and said somewhat uncertainly, “I'm sorry.”

“Seriously, Thief? You’re apologizing what kind of criminal are you anyway? And that’s a steak knife, do you know how messy that would be?! Haven’t you got a big cleaver or something?”

“Well, I’m so sorry, let me look in my kidnapper’s toolkit and see if I’ve got something more to your liking,” replied the thief irritably.

“Oh, can I see it?!”

“See what?”

“Your kidnapper’s tool kit,” replied Baekhyun, looking around hopefully.

The thief threw his hands up in exasperation. “I don’t actually have one! I was being sarcastic.”

Baekhyun scoffed, “I thought we agreed you were going to use a sassier tone when you were being sarcastic?”

“That’s the sassiest tone I have!” exclaimed the thief. “I’m not arguing with you about this anymore.”

Baekhyun glanced at the steak knife. He was pretty sure the thief wasn’t going to cut off his finger, he just wanted to scare him into trying harder to remove the ring. He suspected if he tried again he could get the ring off, the chloroform had made him feel all clammy and he had felt the ring shift before when he’d pressed his hand against the lounge to sit up. But now he had a serious problem, if he gave the thief the ring, Sehun would think _he_ had stolen it and have him arrested. He needed to get himself and that ring back into the vault before morning, but he had no idea how. He commenced stalling.

“Thief, what's your name?” he asked.

“Yeah, like I'm going to tell you that.”

“Oh, c'mon I won't tell anyone, it just feels rude to keep calling you thief,” he whined.

“If you think it's so rude then stop doing it. There’s only 2 of us here, you don’t need to call me anything.”

“C'mon, just your first name,” wheedled Baekhyun.

The thief sighed, gave Baekhyun a long look then said, “Chanyeol.”

“Chanyeol? Oh, that's got to be fake.”

Chanyeol shifted uncomfortably. “Of course, it is,” he said, “I'm not going to tell you my real name, am I? What's your name then?”

Baekhyun thought for a second before replying, “Leonard.”

“Leonard?” laughed out Chanyeol, “Leonard?! You don’t need to use a fake name you're not in disguise remember?”

“Oh yeah,” said Baekhyun, a little disappointed, it didn’t seem fair that he was the only one without a secret identity. “It's Baekhyun actually,” he admitted.

“That sounds more likely.”

“Chanyeol?”

“Yes?”

Baekhyun leant forward. “Will you show me your jewel collection?” he asked breathlessly. While he was stalling there was no reason why he couldn’t have some fun of his own.

The word ‘No’ formed immediately on Chanyeol’s lips, but he didn’t actually say it, he hesitated. Baekhyun had the impression he knew he should say no, but he really quite desperately wanted to agree instead.

Baekhyun saw Chanyeol’s gaze flit to the room behind them, and a sudden look of ferocious pride overwhelmed the hesitation in his eyes.

“Alright,” he said at last, every bit as breathlessly as Baekhyun’s question had been.

Baekhyun leapt up immediately and regretted it. The room around him did a slow disorientating roll.

Chanyeol grabbed his arm to steady him.

“I’m sorry I chloroformed you,” said Chanyeol, “but mostly only because then I had to carry you. Have you any idea how hard it is to open a door when you’re carrying someone unconscious?”

“Oh, poor baby. I’m so sorry I made you kidnap me,” shot back Baekhyun.

Chanyeol laughed and didn’t let go of his arm. To Baekhyun’s surprise, he held onto him carefully and guided him slowly in the direction of the display cases. Chanyeol’s grip was firm but surprisingly gentle and Baekhyun was unable to stop himself leaning into Chanyeol. He had an attractive aroma, warm and slightly floral but softly sensuous. He knew he’d smelt that enticing scent before but couldn’t think where.

“What's that scent?” he asked.

“Chloroform,” said Chanyeol. “I already said I was sorry.”

“Not that, that scent you’re wearing.”

“Just cologne,” said Chanyeol with a shrug.

“Did you steal it?”

Chanyeol screwed up his eyes in an offended sort of way.

“No, I'm a jewel thief, not a regular thief. I don't steal _everything_ , you know,” replied Chanyeol sharply.

“Did you steal that uniform?”

Chanyeol hesitated then admitted reluctantly, “Yes...sort of.”

They reached the first of the glass display cases. Baekhyun’s knees felt a little weak and it had nothing to do with the chloroform and everything to do with the enormous sapphire resting perfectly on a cushion of milky white silk. He couldn’t believe he was actually seeing it in person.

“My friend said you only steal jewels to sell them on to rich collectors,” said Baekhyun. “But if that was the case then you wouldn’t have all these jewels here,” he added, unable to keep the hopeful note out of his voice.

“Your friend sounds like the mercenary type. I couldn’t part with my pieces, not after I went to so much trouble to _acquire_ them.”

“So, they’re really all for your private collection?” asked Baekhyun excitedly.

“Look around, they’re all here,” said Chanyeol, with a graceful sweep of his arm that encompassed the room.

Baekhyun walked slowly from display to display examining each with quickening breath. He recognised jewels he had seen in the newspapers and some from his textbooks at university too. After he had looked at them all, some multiple times he turned back to where Chanyeol was watching him and asked curiously, “Which one is your favourite?”

Chanyeol smiled a slow smile and his eyes sparkled in the moonlight as much as the diamond on Baekhyun’s finger.

“Come with me,” he said and walked to an alcove at the end of the room which Baekhyun hadn’t noticed before. He flipped a switch and the space lit up. A huge uncut diamond was suspended there, held in place by 3 unobtrusive platinum prongs set into the wall.

Baekhyun gasped, though uncut the diamond’s clarity rivalled the one he wore, and it was at least 3 times bigger.

“It’s magnificent,” said Baekhyun reverentially, unable to get his voice above a whisper.

“I thought you might like it.”

“Why haven’t you had it cut and set?” asked Baekhyun.

“I’ve thought about it. I even commissioned a few designers, but I was never happy with the designs. It has to be perfect.”

Baekhyun understood the sentiment. With any cut and setting, this diamond would be a beauty but with the perfect setting, it might be unrivalled. His mind immediately started designing. Chanyeol didn’t seem to find anything unusual in his spending several minutes staring absorbedly at the diamond. Soon, Baekhyun had both a design and a plan.

“Chanyeol,” he said, turning to him, “I’ve decided to make you a deal.”

“A deal?” asked Chanyeol. “You seem to be confused about what’s happening here, I’m the one in control, I’m the kidnapper, you’re the kidnapped. I’ve got the chloroform and the big knife.”

“We’ve been through this, it’s not even that big,” interrupted Baekhyun.

“I’m the one in control,” repeated Chanyeol, ignoring him.

“And I’m the one with the ring,” added Baekhyun, holding up his hand.

“Which you are going to give to me,” prompted Chanyeol.

Baekhyun couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I can’t. Look it might seem crazy, but I actually want to give it to you. I want it to stay here and be adored and not be put back in that stupid metal drawer, but I was the last person alone with the ring. He’ll have me arrested, Chanyeol! I can’t go to jail,” he pleaded, “…I’m too pretty,” he added in a miserable whisper.

“You won’t go to jail, you’ll tell them it was stolen by Seoul Jewel Thief,” replied Chanyeol.

“And what if they don’t believe me?!”

“That's really not my problem,” said Chanyeol.

“It will be your problem, be- because,” he stammered, “I'm going to lick you!”

Chanyeol’s eyes went almost comically wide with surprise. “What?!”

“Because then I'll have your DNA and I'll take it to the police and tell them I have the DNA of the Seoul Jewel thief! And then you’ll be arrested too! Ha!” He paused thinking. “No, wait. You'd have to lick _me_ for that to work, and then they’d get your DNA from the saliva.”

“I'm not going to lick you,” said Chanyeol firmly.

“Oh, well that's just typical!”

“Well yeah, jewel thieves typically do not go around licking random people,” exclaimed Chanyeol.

“Not jewel thieves. Fuck boys. You expect me to do all the work and you won't even lick me,” burst out Baekhyun, crossing his arms and turning away angrily.

“Look, I feel we've gotten off topic somehow…and I'm not a fuck boy!”

“Yeah, well, your “draw me like one of your French girls” chaise lounge says otherwise!” said Baekhyun, pointing at the purple velvet lounge he had woken up on.

“Hey, I got that on sale and I just thought it looked nice,” said Chanyeol, sounding hurt. “Besides the claw feet match the cabinets over there,” he added pointing at the display cabinets lining the walls.

“And the colour complements the curtains,” added Baekhyun, pointing at the heavy gold brocade curtains. “You really have lovely taste,” he went on admiringly. “What were we talking about?”

“ _You_ giving _me_ that ring.”

“No, that wasn’t it,” said Baekhyun vaguely. “Oh, of course, we were talking about the deal I’m offering you.”

“No deal,” said Chanyeol flatly.

“So, you probably don’t know this about me, but I’m not just a salesperson. I have a fine arts degree and I specialized in jewellery design,” explained Baekhyun.

To his surprise, Chanyeol tilted his head in a way which suggested he was interested, and he didn’t interrupt so Baekhyun went on. “The moment I saw your exquisite diamond a design just came to me. I think you’ll really love it. So, here’s the deal. I draw you the perfect setting design for your diamond and you take me and _my_ diamond back to the vault.”

Chanyeol blinked.

“I won’t tell anyone what happened here tonight. So, you’ll be free to break into Mr Oh’s vault anytime you like and steal it…again.”

“And do you promise me,” started Chanyeol slowly.

“Yes, anything,” interrupted Baekhyun.

“…that you _won’t_ be there when I do?!”

Baekhyun nodded. “Oh, I’m very sure that he won’t _ever_ let me back into that vault.”

“Good. That place is soulless anyway,” said Chanyeol. He strode off across the room.

“Where are you going?” asked Baekhyun, unsure if he should follow.

“To get you some paper and a pencil,” said Chanyeol. He stopped and looked back for a second. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” He shot Baekhyun an almost familiar lopsided grin and left the room.

He returned a few minutes later with a large pad of unlined paper and a pencil, which he handed to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun took them enthusiastically and sat down on the floor in front of the alcove to draw.

Chanyeol tried to peer over him at what he was drawing but Baekhyun quickly held the pad up against his chest. “No peeking!” he ordered.

Chanyeol laughed. “Ok, ok, I’ll wait over here,” he said, and he wandered off amongst the displays.

Baekhyun drew quickly, eager to have his design down on paper. He had forgotten how good it felt to draw. How easily the ideas flowed from his mind to his hand and down the pencil to the paper. He forgot everything else as he drew, his slight headache, the fear of being fired or worse arrested, even the spectacular diamond on his finger, nothing else mattered.

When he was done, he stared at the drawing. It really was perfect. He had designed a ring which was deceptively simple, which not only let the beauty of the jewel reveal itself, but also subtly complemented it making it somehow even more sublime.

He sighed, thinking that this was the most perfect design he had ever done and now he had to give it away. Worst still he would never get to see the finished ring.

“Ok, I’m done,” said Baekhyun, folding up the paper. “I’ve also written you some additional instructions about the cut and the contact details of a jeweller I recommend,” he explained.

“Thank you,” said Chanyeol but his eyes narrowed a little suspiciously. He held out his hand for the drawing.

Baekhyun put it in his pocket.

“You can’t have it now, otherwise you won’t need to keep your side of the deal. You can have it when we’re back in the vault.”

“You don’t want to show me because it isn’t a jewellery design...it’s a drawing of a dick, isn’t it?”

Baekhyun laughed. “It isn’t, but I could add some around the edges if you like. Plenty of room,” he added starting to pull the paper out of his pocket.

“No, that’s fine thanks,” said Chanyeol with a laugh. “I can draw my own.”

“And what would that look like exactly?”

Chanyeol’s mouth practically fell open in his haste to explain himself. “I didn’t mean _mine_! I just meant I could do my own drawings!”

Baekhyun smiled happily watching him flounder. The jewel thief of his imagination was suave and charming, but he thought that he might actually like this cute, easily flustered thief better.

“I’ve got to get some things for the job,” said Chanyeol abruptly and he walked away. Baekhyun saw him waving a hand in front of his face and he thought he might be trying to fan himself through the small eye and mouth holes of the balaclava.

Baekhyun happily busied himself by wandering through the jewel collection once more, returning to each of his most favourite pieces. He tried to take in their beauty from every angle, memorise their loveliness, though he knew his mere memories of them could never do them justice.

“You can stop drooling on my diamonds now, it’s time to go,” said Chanyeol reappearing with a backpack and a set of keys. He unzipped the bag and he pulled out an expensive-looking black tie.

“I didn’t realise breaking into a vault was such a formal affair,” said Baekhyun in surprise.

“It’s for your eyes,” said Chanyeol flatly. “I don’t have any actual blindfolds, but this should work.”

“But I know what the vault looks like!”

“Yes, but you don’t know where we are and I’d like to keep it that way,” replied Chanyeol.

“You’re actually going to blindfold me?!” asked Baekhyun. “Oh god, I’ve slipped into one of Minseok’s sex fantasies, haven’t I?” he added under his breath.

“What?” asked Chanyeol, ignoring Baekhyun’s protests and wrapping the tie around his head, covering his eyes completely. He knotted it firmly at the back.

“Nothing,” mumbled Baekhyun. He reached up to touch the blindfold, “Oh, is this silk?” 

“C’mon. We’re going,” said Chanyeol.

Baekhyun heard his footsteps on the marble floor moving away from him.

Baekhyun moved his head trying to figure out which direction he was going. He walked forward a little nervously.

“Wait! You have to hold my hand, or I’ll trip,” he exclaimed, his hands out in front of him.

“I’ve got things to carry, you’ll be fine,” said Chanyeol offhandedly. “C’mon.”

Baekhyun walked a few steps nervously, scared he was about to walk into some unknown object. He thought he felt something in front of him and tripped on his own feet, stumbling a little but managing not to fall.

“There’s nothing there!” called Chanyeol irritably.

“I don’t know that! I can’t see!”

“Alright, fine. Here, I’ll stand in front of you and you can put your hands on my waist and walk behind me.”

“Ok,” agreed Baekhyun. He let Chanyeol guide his hands onto his waist, then leant forward and slipped his arms around Chanyeol, pressing his face into his back and squeezing. “Oh, this is nice,” he said, breathing Chanyeol in.

“Let me go!” said Chanyeol, trying to pry Baekhyun’s hands loose.

“Are you blushing? You sound like you’re blushing,” exclaimed Baekhyun delightedly.

“I’m not blushing! And what does blushing even sound like?

“A lot like you.”

Chanyeol scoffed and finally succeeded in breaking Baekhyun’s grip, he placed Baekhyun’s hands back on his waist again.

“Now, if you can’t do as you’re told, you’ll have to walk by yourself,” ordered Chanyeol.

“You’re very firm,” said Baekhyun admiringly.

“Well, you’re someone who clearly needs a lot of direction,” replied Chanyeol, starting to walk forward.

“I didn’t mean like that; I meant your body!”

Chanyeol stopped suddenly and Baekhyun walked right into him, smacking his forehead into Chanyeol’s right shoulder blade.

“Ouch,” exclaimed Baekhyun, letting go of Chanyeol to rub his sore forehead.

“That wouldn’t have hurt so much if I weren’t so firm,” said Chanyeol, with barely controlled laughter.

He started walking again, Baekhyun made a quick grab for his waist and trailed along behind him.

They went down in what felt like an elevator.

“Are we in an underground car park?” asked Baekhyun, then 2 minutes later as Chanyeol guided him into a car, “Oh, is this a Porsche? It smells like a Porsche. Is it yellow?” then 3 minutes after that when they were driving, “Are we in Gangnam? The road feels like Gangnam.”

Chanyeol finally snapped, “Stop guessing! Why would I blindfold you if I were just going to tell you, huh?!” He paused, breathing noisily in an annoyed way. “And it’s a freaking Maserati!”

“Is it yellow?”

“Yes,” admitted Chanyeol.

“I knew it!”

“You peeked.”

“I didn’t, it just feels yellow.”

After a few minutes, Baekhyun asked, “So how are we going to do this?”

“Do what?”

“Break back into the vault.”

“ _We_ are not going to do anything. _I_ am going to break in and _you_ are not going to get in my way.”

“But how are you going to break in?”

“Same way I did before. I’ve got a device, it disrupts the supply of electricity, basically causes a blackout. The vault has no backup power and I have the key, it’s as simple as that.” he said then groaned. “Why am I telling you this?!”

“Because I have a trustworthy face,” said Baekhyun happily.

“No one looks trustworthy in a blindfold.”

“You can talk, with that balaclava on you look like a…”

“Thief?” supplied Chanyeol.

“I was going to say ski instructor but whatever,” said Baekhyun. “Where did you get the key from anyway?” he asked. “Wait, do you actually work for the Security company?”

“I do tonight,” said Chanyeol.

Baekhyun could tell, even without seeing, that he was grinning.

“Security guard, meter reader, courier, janitor, they're all easy jobs to get which give you convenient, plausible access to places...and no one notices you,” Chanyeol continued, then paused, “Seriously, why am I telling you this stuff?”

He interrupted Baekhyun before he could respond.

“I know, I know. You have a trustworthy face.”

All of a sudden, Baekhyun got the distinct impression he was being looked at, very closely. He licked his lips self-consciously.

“Keep your eyes on the road,” he said, after a minute.

Chanyeol gave a choked laugh. “You are peeking!”

“I’m not. Did you see anything you liked?” he asked playfully.

“Yes,” replied Chanyeol immediately. “That tie, that’s why I bought it. It’s Dolce & Gabbana, you know?”

After a few minutes, they went over a bump and down what felt like a steep, curved driveway.

“Are we underground?” asked Baekhyun, when they had stopped, and he had heard the engine shut off.

“Safer than parking on the street,” said Chanyeol. He opened his door and came around to Baekhyun’s side, helping him out of the car.

“I can remove this now, yeah?” said Baekhyun, reaching up to pull the tie down.

“Nope, leave it on,” said Chanyeol, pulling his hand away gently.

“Why?”

“I don’t want you to see my car.”

Baekhyun groaned. “It’s not a Maserati, is it? What is it? A Prius?” he asked with a shudder.

“No,” Chanyeol laughed. “It is a Maserati.”

“Then it’s not yellow?” asked Baekhyun, disappointedly.

“It’s yellow. I just don’t want you to see the plates.”

“You’re severely overestimating my skill set if you think I could somehow trace your plates,” replied Baekhyun.

“From what I’ve seen, you’re full of surprises, and I don’t want any unpleasant ones,” said Chanyeol.

He led him up a staircase and then they were very clearly outside, Baekhyun could feel the cool night air on his face.

They walked for a minute then Chanyeol said, “Ok, I'll take the blindfold off for you now.” 

“No, I’ll do it,” exclaimed Baekhyun, he reached up quickly but Chanyeol was already working on untying the knot. His fingers brushed Chanyeol’s lightly. Chanyeol withdrew his hand and then to Baekhyun’s surprise returned it, curling his fingers over Baekhyun’s warmly for a second before again pulling back. Baekhyun held his breath and silently removed the blindfold. He looked around blinking. It was dark except for the occasional dim street light but he thought he knew where they were, an alley behind the store. He had never been in the back entry before, he always entered through the shop. Chanyeol was very determinedly not looking at him. 

He stuffed the tie quickly into his pocket, hoping Chanyeol would forget about it.

Cautiously Chanyeol approached the back door of the building.

“How are you going to get in?” whispered Baekhyun, though the alley was deserted.

Chanyeol pulled a swipe card on a retractable lanyard from on the loop of his belt and pressed it against a discrete black box. The door clicked as the lock released.

“Oh,” said Baekhyun. “Hey, why don’t I have one of those?! I’m the one who works here.”

Chanyeol ignored him and pushed open the door.

“I bet Junmyeon has one,” continued Baekhyun irritably under his breath. “I don’t understand why I’m considered less trustworthy than him?!”

“Couldn’t have anything to do with that 2 billion won sparkler on your finger, could it?”

“No! He didn’t trust me way before this!” replied Baekhyun, holding up his right hand. “Besides, I’ve kept it safe and prevented it from getting stole----” he broke off staring at his hand. “Oh shit! Where is it?!”

Chanyeol grabbed his left hand and held it up, the diamond ring twinkled brilliantly in the moonlight.

Baekhyun clutched his chest and sighed in relief.

“I’m starting to understand why he locked you in,” said Chanyeol, he turned and walked through the open door.

Baekhyun followed quickly. They were in a dark corridor.

“There’s probably cameras,” hissed Baekhyun, “You should get behind me.”

“The problem is when I get behind you, most of me is still visible,” replied Chanyeol, apparently unconcerned about keeping his voice down.

“Are you calling me short?!”

“Is this the time?!” asked Chanyeol. “Anyway, it’s fine, I’ll wipe the footage before I go.”

“Oh ok…and I’ll have you know, I’m _not_ short! I’ve looked up the demographic statistics and I’m above average height.”

“And what year were those stats from? 1910?”

“1965. But It still counts!”

Chanyeol took off his backpack and crouched down. He unzipped it and took out a rectangular device the size of a car battery. He turned a dial slowly, listening carefully.

Baekhyun watched as the darkness got suddenly darker. He looked around, the exit light above the door had gone out.

Chanyeol clicked on a flashlight, pressed a couple of buttons on the device then stood up leaving it on the floor. He checked the time on his watch.

“Alright, let’s go,” said Chanyeol.

Baekhyun crept along behind him as they went from dark corridor to staircase then out and into the dingy basement foyer.

When they reached the vault door, Chanyeol pulled out a key attached to the same lanyard as the security pass. He fitted it into a small lock on the vault’s door, then turned the handle.

Now they were back here Baekhyun was regretting his decision, Chanyeol was going to lock him back in that cold, windowless vault for the rest of the night. He didn’t want to be locked in and he really didn’t want Chanyeol to go.

“C’mon,” said Chanyeol, beckoning to him and walking into the open vault.

Baekhyun followed reluctantly. He saw the ledger still lying on the table so for something to do he busied himself putting it away in the drawer he’d seen Sehun take it from.

“Well, hand it over,” said Chanyeol.

For a second Baekhyun thought Chanyeol was talking about the ring, but then he continued.

“I’ve kept up my end of the deal.”

Baekhyun remembered the design he owed to Chanyeol. He took the folded-up paper out of his pocket and handed it to him.

Chanyeol started to open out the page.

“No, you don’t have to look now,” exclaimed Baekhyun quickly.

But Chanyeol was already examining the design with interest. From what little Baekhyun could see of his face through the balaclava he thought he looked impressed.

“It’s---perfect,” Chanyeol said in a quiet voice.

“You sound surprised,” said Baekhyun, pouting involuntarily.

Chanyeol looked up and smiled. “I am. It’s really good and there isn’t a single dick drawing.”

Baekhyun smiled back and said, “I told you I could add one.”

“What’s this thing?” Chanyeol asked, pointing to a scribble in the right bottom corner below the sketch.

“My signature,” said Baekhyun, a little offended.

“Do you always sign your signature with that many hearts?”

“Yes.”

“Like a 12-year-old girl?”

“…Yes.”

“Liar,” laughed Chanyeol.

“I—ok no, I don’t, I just…” he began then faltered, thinking about Minseok telling him he needed a boyfriend and how he missed his chance with that hot delivery guy and how Chanyeol was about to leave and that he would probably never see him again. He took a deep breath. “I did it because…because I’m actually a really big fan of yours,” he admitted.

“Of mine?!”

“Yes.”

“You’re a big fan of jewel thieves?”

“Not just any jewel thief, the best jewel thief. You,” replied Baekhyun earnestly, watching Chanyeol closely for his reaction.

Chanyeol appeared to be too surprised to speak, so Baekhyun went on. “Can I have something to remember you by?” he asked.

“Are you trying to con me out of more jewellery?” asked Chanyeol wryly.

“Would that work?” laughed Baekhyun, losing his train of thought. Why hadn’t he thought of that sooner? Chanyeol had heaps of diamonds he could have asked for just a small one.

Chanyeol was looking at him, his lips pursed but amused like he was trying not to laugh.

“No, I meant something like this,” continued Baekhyun.

He stepped in close, raised himself up on his toes and lifted his face to Chanyeol’s. He kissed him; thankful the balaclava at least had a mouth hole. It only lasted a second and then he pulled away with an embarrassingly loud smoothing sound which seemed to echo around the vault. Chanyeol stayed perfectly still for a second like he was frozen in surprise. Then he looked down at the floor and Baekhyun thought that under the balaclava he might actually be blushing.

Chanyeol hesitated visibly then said, “But surely...that’s not enough to remember me by.”

Baekhyun’s hopeful eyes met his. Chanyeol pulled him in against him, wrapping his arms around his waist and kissing him properly. A deep, lingering kiss that closed his eyes and curled his toes in his shoes. Chanyeol brought a hand up, gently caressing his hair, running fingers lightly down the back of his neck. Baekhyun felt himself get carried away by it. It was like being kidnapped all over again.

In too short a time, Chanyeol released him. Checking his watch, he said regretfully, “5 minutes until the power comes back on.”

“So, we’ve got what? 4 minutes to make out?” asked Baekhyun hopefully.

Chanyeol clicked a couple of buttons on his watch. “4 and a half minutes, I can run fast,” replied Chanyeol. He captured Baekhyun’s lips in another passionate kiss, walking him backwards until he bumped against the metal table. To Baekhyun’s surprise, Chanyeol picked him up and deposited him smoothly onto it.

“Oh, I like this,” Baekhyun mumbled into his lips, wrapping his legs around Chanyeol’s waist and using them to pull Chanyeol even closer. The looming deadline hung over them and while the last kiss had been slow and lingering, this one was much more urgent. Baekhyun wanted to explore every inch of him he could while he still had time. 

It occurred to him that he was actually kissing the Seoul Jewel Thief in a vault full of billions of won worth for diamonds and it was even better than he had ever imagined it could be. For a second, he could barely hold in his incredulous laughter at the ridiculousness of it. The stifled laughter quickly turned into a moan though as Chanyeol kissed his way down Baekhyun’s jaw settling in the groove of his neck and tonguing the sensitive spot gently but insistently.

“I _really_ like this,” groaned Baekhyun.

He was suddenly aware of an obtrusive beeping sound coming from Chanyeol’s watch.

“Time’s up,” gasped Chanyeol, glancing at his watch and pressing a button on the side.

Reluctantly Baekhyun unwrapped his legs from around Chanyeol allowing him to step back.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” said Chanyeol, “I’ve got something for you.” He swung his backpack around and unzipped it then produced a stick of butter.

He held it out to Baekhyun who laughed and took it.

“I’ll make sure I always pack one from now on,” said Chanyeol. “Just in case.”

Their faces were close, almost touching. Baekhyun could feel Chanyeol’s warm breath tickling his lips. He let his lips brush Chanyeol’s lightly and Chanyeol responded immediately, kissing him softly.

Baekhyun broke the kiss this time, pushing Chanyeol away gently. “Go,” he said, “and for god’s sake don’t get caught!”

“I never do,” replied Chanyeol, flashing him a smile. He turned and left the vault.

Baekhyun watched the door close and sighed, he was once again locked in the vault, alone.

He sank down on the floor and leant against the table, wondering if that had really just happened or if he’d fallen asleep and dreamt it. The stick of butter in his right hand was the only proof he had that the night’s events were real.

His hands were no longer clammy, and the butter came in handy to get the ring off. He felt a little sad as he slipped it neatly back into its box and closed the drawer. He had gotten used to seeing it on his finger and he’d probably never get anywhere near anything so beautiful ever again. He strongly suspected he’d be fired in the morning. He hid the stick of butter in an empty unmarked drawer, he thought the vault was probably cold enough to keep it solid but also didn’t really care if it melted. It would be Sehun’s problem to deal with if it did.

***

The next morning Baekhyun woke up to the now-familiar hissing of the vault’s door. He scrambled groggily to his feet. Ready but still dreading his fate. 

Sehun stood in the doorway watching him. 

“I hope you’ve removed my ring,” he said imperiously.

Baekhyun held up his unadorned left hand in answer. “It’s back in the drawer,” he mumbled. 

Sehun strode across the vault and opened the drawer labelled J13. He opened the case and smiled in a satisfied way, then he rounded on Baekhyun. “Turn out your pockets,” he ordered.

Baekhyun put his hands into his trousers pockets. There was nothing inside but Chanyeol’s black silk tie which he’d forgotten he had. He pulled it out in surprise, then held out his hand to Sehun, the tie wadded up in his palm.

Sehun looked at it quizzically.

“Just in case,” said Baekhyun, hastily, “I have an emergency...black-tie event,” he finished lamely.

“What an unusual life you lead,” said Sehun dryly. “Please don’t feel the need to talk about it,” he added when Baekhyun showed signs of speaking. “Now get into the shop, you’re almost late for work.”

Baekhyun looked at him, stunned. If he was almost late then he must still have a job? He was absolutely shocked he hadn’t been fired, but he was also surprised that he didn’t feel happier about it, instead, he felt almost disappointed. He didn't have time to examine these new disturbing feelings however, he gave Sehun an awkward half nod, half bow and ran for it.

Of course, Junmyeon was already in the shop setting up when he burst through the employees-only door. Junmyeon gave him a brief up and down look which took in his dishevelled appearance and puffy, tired eyes, but didn’t say anything. He suspected he looked pretty awful, his night sleeping on a hard metal floor of the vault hadn’t been particularly restful. Plus, the skin around his mouth felt warm and irritated. Passionately kissing a man in a woollen balaclava had seemed quite romantic at the time but he wished now Chanyeol had taken it off, not least because he desperately wanted to know what Chanyeol looked like. 

He suspected Junmyeon was upset about being locked out of the store last night because he began very obviously ignoring him. That suited Baekhyun just fine, he was too tired to deal with Junmyeon. He ate all the ‘for emergencies only’ chocolate bars he kept in this backpack and had a miserable day cleaning the window displays. In the meantime, Junmyeon spent several hours in the vault with Sehun performing an impromptu stocktake, which Baekhyun suspected was just to check he hadn’t stolen anything.

By the time he made it home, he was feeling exhausted and numb. He trudged through the apartment heading for the fridge. 

“Hi,” called Minseok from the couch as he passed and Baekhyun groaned something back. 

When he opened the fridge, he was met with an array colour which for one hopeful second made him think Minseok had actually gone grocery shopping without him. But then he realised he was looking at row upon row of different sized bowls filled with what looked like half-set jelly in all different colours. It looked like every bowl they owned. He stared, then hearing Minseok enter the kitchen behind him he asked, “Why on earth is there so much jelly in here?”

“Don’t eat any of it!” exclaimed Minseok quickly. “I’m trying to make it up to Jongdae by giving him his fantasy,” he explained. “Hey, you don’t know where I can get a blow-up paddling pool from, do you?”

“I’ve never regretted asking a question so much in my life,” replied Baekhyun. He closed the fridge and wandered dazedly back out into the living room, with Minseok following. “I saw some in the window of the toy store in the mall opposite the station,” he added, sinking onto the couch, and suspecting he was going to regret telling Minseok that. 

“Oh great, thanks!” said Minseok, sitting down beside him. “You can have some jelly once we're done with it,” he added as if this were some great honour he was bestowing.

“Yeah, I don’t really need any slightly used sex jelly thanks.”

“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t offer.”

“I think it’s pretty safe to say that will never happen and you have now ruined jelly for me,” replied Baekhyun. “And if anyone’s keeping count this is the 2nd dessert you’ve ruined for me.”

“2nd?” asked Minseok. “Wait, what was the first?”

“Chocolate mousse _remember_?!” exclaimed Baekhyun with a shudder.

“Oh yeah,” said Minseok and a look of faraway wonder crossed his face. “That was a good night. Until you walked in…and for a little bit after you walked in.”

“I remember,” said Baekhyun dryly, “Vividly. It was the night we added the ‘no sex in the kitchen’ clause to our roommate agreement.”

“Which might I add I have followed perfectly,” piped up Minseok. 

Baekhyun crossed his arms, thinking of the broken kitchen table and started to say, “What about last mo---,” but Minseok spoke over him.

“Most of the time!”

Baekhyun shook his sore head. “I can’t believe you went grocery shopping and all you bought was jelly.”

“Hey if you had actually bothered to come with me, like you said you would, you could have stopped me.”

“Could I have? _Really_?”

“No, but you could have carried even more jelly!” said Minseok, a slightly maniacal gleam in his eye.

He peered at Baekhyun suddenly. “Why is your mouth so pink?” he asked, then gasped loudly. “Oh my god, have you been making out with some bearded hottie?!”

“No, a balaclava-wearing hottie,” admitted Baekhyun with a guilty cringe. 

“Please tell me you’re fucking a ski instructor,” said Minseok seriously.

Baekhyun cringed more and shook his head.

“Wait, it's not... _him_?...No...it can’t be! How did this happen? Did he steal jewels from your boss?” asked Minseok, leaning closer and watching Baekhyun with rapt attention.

“No... well not really. He kind of stole me actually,” admitted Baekhyun.

“Yeah, I'm going to need you to impart actual information now! How on earth did this happen?!”

“He broke in, our eyes met, and it was love at first sight.”

“Really?!”

“No, long story short, he wanted a diamond ring I had stuck on my hand, he chloroformed me, we flirted a little, made out in the vault and here I am now with this weird rash,” said Baekhyun, touching his face gingerly.

“No! I want the long story!” exclaimed Minseok. “I don't share your ridiculous dislike of details!”

Baekhyun went into further detail and when he was done Minseok was gazing at him in awe. “Tell it again,” he breathed.

“No, I'm tired,” said Baekhyun, flopping down ever further into the couch.

“At least tell me what he looks like. Is he really hot?”

Baekhyun considered this. “Well he sounded good looking,” he replied.

“What do you mean he sounded good looking?”

“Well…He didn't actually take the balaclava off,” admitted Baekhyun, cringing a little.

“At all?”

“No. But he had this really sexy, deep voice and really big, beautiful eyes and his head is a really nice shape,” Baekhyun went on quickly.

“His head?” laughed Minseok. “Boy, you’ve got it bad.”

“Hey, he has a nice personality too.”

“Baekhyun, He’s a thief!”

“A nice one!” protested Baekhyun. “And oh, Minseok I was right about the jewel collection,” he added in an awed voice.

“Here we go,” said Minseok, shaking his head. “I knew it would come back to jewels in the end.”

“No, you don’t understand. He has my _dream_ collection, it was--”

“I don’t want to hear it,” interrupted Minseok loudly, starting to get up.

“You’re the one that wanted details!”

“Sexy details not endless details about shiny rocks!” cried Minseok.

“Shiny rocks?!” repeated Baekhyun, mortally offended. “Oh, that’s it. I’m going to buy every blow-up paddling pool in Seoul and _pop_ them all!” 

Minseok gasped. “You wouldn’t!”

“Wouldn’t I?”

Minseok gave him a sudden and unnerving smile. “Eh, that’s alright. We can always use the bathtub,” he said almost threateningly.

Baekhyun sighed. “You're going to clog the drain with jelly, aren’t you?” he asked sadly. 

Minseok shrugged nonchalantly.

“Maybe you can shower at the thief’s place?” he suggested.

“Maybe?” considered Baekhyun. “Oh my god, do you think he has a diamond shower?”

Minseok rolled his eyes, ignoring this question he asked, “Anyway, when will you be seeing the gorgeous shape of his balaclava-covered head again?”

“When he calls, I guess,” said Baekhyun.

“Oh, so you gave him your number?”

“In a manner of speaking,” replied Baekhyun, smiling to himself. If Chanyeol took his recommendation for the jeweller ‘Mr Byun’ then hopefully he’d be calling very soon.

***

Baekhyun arrived at the store the next morning with 15 minutes to spare but the moment he walked in the door he was greeted by Junmyeon’s annoyed face.

“There you are!” exclaimed Junmyeon as if he were late. “The boss needs my help getting some jewels ready for a client that’s coming in. You need to set up the store now.”

Baekhyun sighed and dropped his bag in the back room. Junmyeon didn’t come back for almost an hour. When he finally returned, smiling smugly, Baekhyun pretended he needed to go to the bathroom and ducked out into the back room to check his phone. There were no missed calls, no messages. Chanyeol hadn’t called. He supposed it was still quite early, but really he had hoped he would call yesterday and he hadn’t. Maybe Chanyeol hadn’t really liked his jewellery design after all? Maybe he was just being polite? That thought hurt a little and even though he heard the shop’s bell jingle he ignored it. It was probably one of Junmyeon old lady customers anyway. He pulled the silk tie out of his backpack and sat for a while stroking it thoughtfully.

After 10 minutes he ambled out of the back room. The store was empty except for Junmyeon who was dusting energetically.

“You missed him,” he said, with barely contained excitement.

“Who?” asked Baekhyun disinterestedly.

“The client, I was getting the jewels for. He must be very wealthy, he said he wanted Sehun’s most precious jewel,” said Junmyeon.

“The Marquise Diamond ring?” asked Baekhyun immediately. He was disappointed, if some stranger bought it then it would no doubt be harder for Chanyeol to find and steal.

“Probably, we weren’t really sure which piece he meant, so we’ve taken all the really expensive stuff up to the showroom,” explained Junmyeon.

Baekhyun wandered over to the counter and stared out the shop window. He couldn’t even get excited thinking about all those jewels up in the showroom. He knew as soon as he walked in the door that morning that this was truly the last place he wanted to be. He thought about the moment he had seen that huge uncut piece of diamond in Chanyeol’s collection and the way the ideas had just filled his mind, tumbling over each other, the sheer delight of it. Designing that jewellery piece had given him 1000% more satisfaction than his entire time working at House of Vivi. He knew what he had to do. Taking this job had been the smart decision if he was listening to his head instead of his heart, but it was time to let his heart take the lead. 

He took his name badge off and dropped it on the glass counter with a resolutely loud clunk. Junmyeon looked up. 

“What do you think you're doing? You’re not taking another break. We have too much to do.”

“Well you better hire someone to help you then, because I quit,” said Baekhyun firmly.

Junmyeon gaped at him.

“You can’t just quit! You have to tell the Boss.”

“Alright, I'll tell him,” said Baekhyun, walking towards the employees-only door.

“You can’t! He’s with a client.”

“What's the worst he can do? Fire me?” laughed Baekhyun, he pushed this way through the door and strode over to the elevator. He punched the up button.

He’d never been up to the showroom before. He realised this would be the first and last time. When the elevator doors opened, he walked determinedly across another lobby identical to the one downstairs, there was only one door, that made things easy.

As he approached the door, a deep voice from within said in tones of disappointment, “I said I wanted your most precious jewel, Sehun, and this is what you bring me?”

He felt a jolt of recognition, but he had too much adrenaline to pay attention to it. He pushed open the door and strode in. “Sehun, I quit!” he exclaimed. 

He was greeted by a slightly shocked silence. He felt a little embarrassed now that he had said it, he hadn’t thought any further ahead than just quitting. He looked around the room for the first time. It was large and airy, richly furnished and decorated with tasteful but clearly expensive artworks. On a silk covered tray on the marble coffee table was a magnificent selection of the store’s finish jewellery. Sehun was sitting on an immaculate white leather armchair, but it was the strikingly handsome young man in an expensive-looking grey suit sitting opposite which interested Baekhyun.

“Just who I've been waiting for,” said the young man in familiar deep tones. He gave Baekhyun the lopsided grin which he’d seen before from under the brim of a black cap.

“Are you making a delivery?” asked Baekhyun.

The grin broadened.

“More of a pickup, actually,” he said standing up and approaching Baekhyun. “Sehun, I'll be taking this one off your hands,” he called over his shoulder.

Baekhyun felt hot all over, that low, slightly rough voice, those large, expressive eyes, he should have known before. He had been right about the gorgeous shape of his head, under the balaclava, he was an extremely handsome man. He looked even better in that suit than he had in the courier’s outfit or the security guard’s uniform.

“Look, I don't know what's going on here, Chanyeol,” started Sehun, clearly unimpressed.

Baekhyun interrupted him. “Chanyeol?! You gave me your real name? Are you crazy?”

“I'm starting to think I might be,” replied Chanyeol, smiling even more broadly. He was in front of Baekhyun now. “I thought I'd see you when I came through the shop.”

“I was on a break,” explained Baekhyun.

“You said you didn't get breaks.”

“I may have lied for dramatic effect,” admitted Baekhyun.

Chanyeol laughed.

“Did you really come here for me?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yes,” replied Chanyeol firmly. “You see. I'm actually a really big fan of yours...and your work.”

“My work?”

Chanyeol took Baekhyun’s hands in his and Baekhyun suddenly felt the coldness of a gold band encircling his left ring finger.

He looked down, gasping as he recognised the ring he had designed. It was even more magnificent than he had hoped. His design had been flawlessly executed. It made the array of jewels on the table look like cheap costume jewellery.

“You had it made?” he exclaimed automatically.

“Of course.”

“I thought you didn’t actually like the design...because you didn’t call,” replied Baekhyun, the slight catch in his voice unintentionally revealing how upset he had been about this.

“Call?” repeated Chanyeol, looking confused. His brow cleared and a look of surprise crossed his handsome face. “Of course,” he exclaimed, “You’re the recommended jeweller. I should have known. I'm sorry, I didn't take your advice. I used a jeweller I know because I came by that diamond... in my regular way.”

Baekhyun was only half-listening, he was looking at his hand still clasped in Chanyeol’s and watching the way the diamond twinkled even when his hand was perfectly still. It occurred to him the ring was an absolute perfect fit.

“How did you know my size?” he asked curiously.

Chanyeol hesitated. “I might have checked while you were unconscious...which is probably the creepiest thing I've ever done,” he admitted.

Baekhyun remembered how the ring had suddenly felt loose when he woke up.

“You got the ring off?” he gasped out. “But why didn't you just take it?”’

“Now that wouldn't have been any fun at all,” said Chanyeol, squeezing Baekhyun’s fingers gently. He looked into his eyes earnestly. “I'm glad you’ve quit, but I was planning on stealing you anyway,” he said softly.

“Before we go anywhere...how do I know it's really you?” asked Baekhyun, trying to contain a mischievous smile. “I think I better check.”

“How will you do that?”

“Like this,” said Baekhyun, taking Chanyeol’s face in his hands and kissing him on the mouth. He knew those soft lips.

“It’s you,” breathed Baekhyun happily.

“Oh, I don't know, it mightn’t be. I think you better check again,” remarked Chanyeol, pulling a very willing Baekhyun in for another kiss.

From across the room, Sehun made an annoyed noise in his throat.

“Oh, that's right we were leaving,” said Chanyeol.

“I'm losing patience with you, Chanyeol,” remarked Sehun. “First you waste my time claiming you want to buy my jewellery and then you steal away my best...” he paused, “well if I'm honest, my worst employee...actually...you can have him.” He shrugged. “Be warned though he sticks his fingers into things,” he added scathingly.

“That's alright,” replied Chanyeol, smiling at Baekhyun, “I’m kind of into that,” he said playfully biting his lip.

“You just get better and better,” breathed Baekhyun, leaning into to kiss him again.

“We should go,” Chanyeol mumbled into Baekhyun’s lips.

“I'm in no rush,” replied Baekhyun, between teasing kisses.

“What you saw of my jewels...well that was actually only about a 1/4 of the collection,” said Chanyeol.

Baekhyun stepped back, his heart leaping. He took one of Chanyeol’s arms in his and exclaimed joyfully, “Let's go!”

The end.


End file.
